Detroit has a long history of civil disturbances, including a 1943 riot that left 34 people dead.

The deadly 1967 civil disturbance in Detroit was one of the turning points in city history, but it was only one of a number of disorders that have broken out in the 316 years since the French settled Detroit in 1701. Here are some of the other significant riots:

1833: Black Detroiters armed themselves and rose up to fight the Wayne County Sheriff over the jailing of two escaped slaves, Thornton and Ruth Blackburn. The Blackburns, a married couple, escaped to Canada. The sheriff, John Wilson, died of his injuries in the melee. As a result of the uprising, white Detroiters demanded a 9 p.m. curfew for African Americans and other restrictions.

1849: Dozens of middle-class Detroiters ripped up railroad tracks down Gratiot Avenue, saying the trains were a hazard. They ripped the tracks up on another occasion, and officials rerouted them in 1852.

1850s: So-called whorehouse riots broke out frequently in Detroit after 1834 as stone-throwing white mobs attacked brothels, especially those in German neighborhoods that catered to black men. Historian John Schneider counted 12 major incidents in which at least 17 brothels were destroyed or badly damaged. Often the crowd would torch the buildings once they were done wrecking the interiors.

1863: Soldiers fired on a crowd of white people attempting to lynch William Faulkner, a black man accused of sexually assaulting two young girls. One man died, and the angry crowd descended on the black section of Detroit in today’s Greektown area, burning about 30 buildings. The crowd threatened firefighters who worked to save the homes of African Americans. Years later, the girls admitted they had lied. Historians blame the Free Press, then a pro-slavery newspaper, for having incited the white crowds.

1891: A strike by trolley employees led to three days of rioting by workers and citizens, who stoned trolleys, unhitched horses, ripped up rails and fought police with paving stones and their fists. Another trolley riot took place in 1918.

1894: Upset by changing pay rules in the midst of a depression, a crew of 500 mostly Polish workers attacked the sheriff and his deputies. Three people were killed and more than a dozen were injured.

1942: More than 1,000 white people gathered at Ryan and Nevada on Feb. 28 to protest a black family moving into the newly built Sojourner Truth housing project. Police battled protesters for several hours. There were no deaths, but dozens of injuries.

1943: In the midst of World War II, Detroit was overcrowded, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week and seemed ready to explode for months. It finally happened June 20, when interracial brawls broke out on Belle Isle, the bridge and along East Jefferson. Blacks later smashed windows in white-owned stores on Hastings Street, and white men dragged black men off of streetcars and beat them. Federal troops were needed to restore order. In two days, 34 people died — 25 blacks, nine whites. Police killed 17 of the 25 black victims but none of the white victims.

1975: The white owner of Bob Bolton’s Lounge on Livernois shot and killed an 18-year-old black youth he said was about to steal a car. Crowds of protesters gathered for two nights. Police held looting and other violence to a minimum, aided by the new mayor, Coleman Young, who walked the streets, asking for calm.

1984: The victory celebration after the Tigers defeated the San Diego Padres to win the World Series left one man dead, scores injured, three women reportedly raped, 34 people arrested, stores looted, one police car torched and four others severely damaged. Lt. Fred Williams, a police spokesman, blamed the violence on “young suburbanites coming into Detroit and wrecking havoc.” One suburbanite, Bubba Helms, 17, of Lincoln Park became the symbol of the riot when a photo of him posing in front of an overturned police car circulated around the world.

Bubba Helms celebrates after the Detroit Tigers won the 1984 World Series. The fans turned rowdy in the streets and overturned police cars and set them on fire.
(Photo11: Robert Kozloff, Associated Press)

The blind pig, also known as the United Community League for Civic Action, was on the second floor of Economy Printing at 9125 12th Street in Detroit. A police raid on this illegal bar and gambling joint sparked the 1967 Detroit uprisings. Ira Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press

Congressman John Conyers, Detroit Democrat, uses a bullhorn as he tried to encourage African Americans in Detroit's riot area to go home, July 23, 1967. He was met with shouts of "No, no." As Conyers stepped down a rock hit the street a few feet from him. Associated Press

National Guardsmen, were called in to restore order by Michigan Gov. George Romney, stop their vehicle near a Detroit fire truck July 24, 1967, in the neighborhood that was ravaged by rioting the previous day. At least three people were killed. Associated Press

The flames of riot leave so little for their victims. For Emma Jean Woolford it was only bedsprings and a headboard dragged desperately from her blazing home to safety at Boston Blvd snd Linwood in Detroit on Sunday, July 23, 1967. Bert Emanuele, Detroit Free Press

A woman and children stroll past the remains of once substantial homes which were caught up in the path of the rioters in Detroit, July 25, 1967. The houses are a short distance from 12th Street, center of the riot area. Associated Press

Gov. George Romney, center, is guarded by an unidentified policeman holding a shotgun as he toured the scene of Detroit riot, July 24, 1967. Rampaging blacks bombed, pillaged and burned their way through a wide area of the city. (AP Photo) AP

Gov. George Romney, center, confers with Mayor Jerome Cavanagh, right, of Detroit as National Guardsmen standby in a part of Detroit that was ravaged by rioters, July 24, 1967. Romney called in the guardsmen as rioters firebombed and pillaged a wide area of the city. Associated Press

Lt. General John Throckmorton takes to the field with his paratroopers in riot-torn Detroit on July 25, 1967. Throckmorton is commander of the 4,700 troops sent to Detroit by President Johnson to quell the outbreak. Fred Plofchan, Detroit Free Press

In this July 25, 1967 photo, smoke rises from a fire set at the busy intersection of Grand River and 14 Street in Detroit, near another burned out building. The fire was set despite patrols by the National Guard, police and Army troops. AP

Lt. Gen. John J. Throckmorton, left, commanding general of U.S. Army troops in Detroit, and Cyrus Vance, special assistant to Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, appear at a press conference in Detroit, July 25, 1967. Vance said the situation in the city appeared less tense than the previous night. Gen. Throckmorton said his troops had been ordered to use minimum force to keep order in the riot areas. Associated Press

Men captured in the vicinity of the 10th Police Precinct in Detroit, July 26, 1967, peer from under a garage door awaiting removal and guarded by an Army trooper. The precinct building came under fire in daylight hours. Associated Press

National Guardsmen with machine guns and rifles block off 12th Street on Detroit's West Side, July 26, 1967, to give firemen a chance to fight a small fire. Snipers have taken a heavy toll among firemen as they fought hundreds of fires set by rioters. Associated Press

The Manor House, circled, is where three young black men were found slain in late July 1967. It is a three story home turned into an annex for the Algiers Motel, 8301 Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Ed Haun, Detroit Free Press

Walter Evans, who lives on Pingree St. on Detroit’s West Side, patiently waters his lawn, July 27, 1967 to keep it green in front of his home which was spared from fires set by rioters. Next door are the stark ruins of his neighbor’s home burned by a fire that swept almost the whole residential block. Associated Press

Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh speaks to a young man on Detroit 's east side in September 1967 after the Detroit riots in July of 1967. The young man tells the mayor the rubble had been a five and ten cent store. Ira Rosenberg, Detroit Free Press

Michigan Governor George Romney bows head with hand to forehead in a moment of meditation before making a live television appearance to speak on Detroit's rioting of past week, July 30, 1967. Romney said, "Both white and Negro extremist organizations are preaching hate and arming." Alvan Quinn, Associated Press

Pallbearers carry the tiny casket of Tanya Blanding, 4, a victim of riots in Detroit, Tuesday, August 1, 1967. The girl was killed as a hail of police and National Guard bullets swept an apartment building where she huddled on the floor. Officials said the flare of a match used to light a cigarette was mistaken for the flash of a sniper's gun. Associated Press

Headline on the page, "National Guard Is Told: Shoot to Kill If Fired On; 8,000 Troops on Patrol with 5,000 Law Officers." From the Detroit Free Press, July 25, 1967 and the riots in Detroit. Detroit Free Press

Headline on the page, "The Tension of Years Echoes in Shouts of Glee Amid the Litter and Rubble that Was 12th Street." From the Detroit Free Press, July 25, 1967 and the riots in Detroit. Detroit Free Press

Headline on the page, "In a Ravaged Neighborhood--a Festive Air. Detroit's New Refugees--The Flames Left Little." From the Detroit Free Press, July 25, 1967 and the riots in Detroit. Detroit Free Press